Minamioguni hotels

Pros: The kaiseki food was amazing and the service was very attentive and thoughtful. I would recommend this ryokan.

Cons: The outdoor onsens could've been a little more "outdoor"

Pros: Stairs etc as expected. But the meals were unexpectedly good and very good value for money.

Cons: Just too bad we checked in too late and got no time to visit other onsens.

Pros: Beautiful ancient and modernly kept facility. Atmospheric room in a fable contest. Amazing dinner. Good indoor and outdoor onsens.

Cons: The private onsens are quite small and they don't have windows.

Pros: Onsen is great and staff is very friendly. The tea scent in room make us feel a warm welcome. Staff did drive us from and to the bus station.

Pros: Beautiful Ryokan, wonderful staff and delicious food! We felt so relaxed and enjoyed our stay very much.

Pros: Historical onsen ryokan, helpful and friendly staff, great dinner and breakfast, good onsens nearby

Pros: Staff, dinner, breakfast, location, onsen:D all are beyond my expectation! they are doing weber thing with passion and heart:D For onsen, the one for accommodating guest only great. The location is really close to the center, yet tranquil. Staff speaks good english and are very welcoming and warm kind of person. I love their amount of food, very optimum in amount and delicious.

Pros: A great Ryokan with lovely staff and nice onsens. It's also located in the middle of town so it's a great location to see the city by walking

Pros: This was my best onsen and ryokan experience in Japan! We were met at the bus stop and treated like royalty. A special thanks to Mr. Iwano for taking such good care of us. The resort had two outdoor onsens to use and it was spectacular to sit looking out on the river and the woods while soaking in the mineral bath. The silence and mountains were special after city visits. The dinner and breakfast were both delicious and our desire for coffee before starting breakfast was met with a smile and fantastic service. We checked out and enjoyed the village the next day and they met us at the bus stop to catch our bus to Beppu.

Cons: That we didn’t stay two nights!!

Pros: The riverside private onsen in our room was fantastic. It's a beautiful grounds, the type c room is quite pretty. Staff were nice and gave us a tour that we liked.

Cons: The indoor onsen was dirty. No yukatas provided, they provide a shirt and pants and shoes that are made for tiny people, so anyone over 5'8 will be too big to wear them. It's not a typical ryokan experience in my opinion. The two separate single beds is weird.

Pros: Kurokawa is one of Japan’s prettiest hot spring resort towns, and Miyama Sansou is probably one of the best places to stay: it is a bit out of the village in a beautiful setting with the villas situated along a river. Lots of trees were om blossom. The villa is huge, we liked the western bedding, and the private onsen was wonderful. It is quiet and peaceful, and we understood later that many hot spring places can we overcrowded with tourists. We used the very nice outdoor onsen at the Yamamizuki (next door), with a spectacular view of the river and surrounding woods. The Kaiseki diner in the evening was excellent, and liked the special sake deal (3 sake wines out of the list to try for only 1,000 Yen). There is lots to see and do in this beautiful region on Kyushu, Aso mountain is only 50 minutes away. highly recommended!

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Brilliant place to rest for a couple of days! Everything was perfect, from the staff’s politeness and helpfulness to the magnificent rooms and onsen :)

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Location

Pros: It’s one of the kind,best services,foods great.

Cons: Hard to booked.

Pros: The room is so beautifully arranged and furnished. The amenity and toiletries are also convenient. We live close to the resort's bath house. Both the indoor and outdoor onsen are amazing.

Cons: The food is a bit on the average side. Dead insect bodies on the wall.

Pros: Breakfast, dinner and staff service was excellent. They provided us with free drinks, free towels (to keep) and clothing amenities in the rooms. It snowed while we there there and they provided coats for us to wear to dinner. We booked a room which had a private onsen and had access to three other onsens, including yamamizuki (wth a gorgeous view of the river). It was located at the edge of the township so driving here is recommended.

Cons: I’m not sure if they had free WIFI at the restaurant. Free wifi was good but limited mainly to the rooms.

Pros: Very helpfull Ms Hashimoto arrange transportation for us

Pros: The food was really good. The dinner was one of the better kaiseki dinner's we've eaten. The baths were nice (but very hot!) and the property was very cute.

Pros: Amazing location, beautiful setting, and amazing onsens! Great traditional Ryoken experience!

Cons: The meals did not change from day to day, if you are staying more than one night you will end up eating the same meals for dinner and breakfast.

Pros: The bed is comfortable and clean.

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Only 11 guest rooms with 2 indor and 2 outdoor shared onsen and 3 family onsen. Fantastic Kaiseki full course dinner and Japanese breakfast. Quite good location to enjoy small Kurokawa onsen town. Attentive staffs are keen to provide best services.

Cons: A family with kids are not welcome. They charge 2160 yen for a kid even though the family share a room and a meal.

Pros: Excellent service, beautiful traditional Japanese garden, great meal menus, and super clean and spacious tatami room

Cons: Yukata was very pretty but not for sale. Payment is cash only (unreasonable to expect people to carry around such large amount of cash)

Pros: very pleasant people.. lots of charm.. not so easy to get to... they made a birthday cake for my husband as I had requested

Cons: expensive overall; not option for different breakfast... a little out if the way but this was also partof the charm

Pros: Extremely professional staff. Outstanding kaiseki meal. Beautiful grounds. Exclusive location.

Pros: Very warm and cozy place. It feels like you stay at home that really close to the nature, clear blue sky , the sound of bird singing in the morning . They served homemade breakfast which was really really good and I also booked for dinner that made me so surprised!!! Every dishes was so perfect. Don’t miss it! Will come back again for sure.

Pros: It's a chalet from fairy tale! It's so good to have breakfast in their beautiful dinning room. The house we stayed is just lovely, with toilet, towels, toothbrushes. The house is spacious and clean. The environment is quiet, surrounded by forest. I like the wooded bathroom with onsen. Bathroom is outside and which is big enough to a couple or even with kids. They have many outdoor furniture for guests. Owners are very friendly, they prepared high quality breakfast and it's big portion to me. We were pampered by the owners. Location is good, It takes only 5 mins drive to Kurokawa. Remember to have dinner or prepared dinner before checking in.

Cons: Stay 1 night is not enough

Pros: Very relaxing environment, comfortable rooms, huge breakfast, great service. I could stay many more days.

Cons: Nothing.

Pros: Everything is perfect. Very good breakfast. Great location 2 km from Onsen and not far from ASO and Makinoto pass for treks. The owner took time to explain easy treks and gave us a useful map. One of our best accommodation in our 4 year trip. Highly recommended.

Pros: A very friendly and helpful owner, even before I arrived he sent messages so I would not get lost. The location is a bit remote, but with a rental car it's easy to get to. The onsen doesn't have a great view like the ones in Kurokawa-onsen, but it was very relaxing. A very beautiful location and only a 5 minute drive from Kurokawa-onsen.

Pros: Good looking host, very helpful, wonderful western breakfast. Upgrade us to two rooms bed

Pros: Really nice cottage, perfectly located to move around Kurokawa Onsen and hike around Aso-san. Great advices on the hike from the owner and really good breakfast !

Pros: The beautiful nature around it. Very clean and wonderful breakfast!the best breakfast I had throughout my 10days in kyushu. Very well equipped cottage with heater.

Pros: Fantastic. I love the surrounding environment

Pros: I’ll definitely stay here if I come to Minamioguni! I stayed here for two nights and always left with full of energy because the owner provided a big breakfast and it was really really delicious. As I came here alone without renting any car, the owner enthusiastically sent and pick me up to and fro the nearest bus stop. If you feel like escaping from city life, this’s some place you can enjoys with.

Pros: Very nice Ryokan with outdoor Onsen and you can use it with tattoos. The Dinner and breakfast was good. We had a very nice waiter with good English acknowledgment. Very good service.

Cons: The price of 320 Euro/ Night :-)

Pros: The situation is nearby the bus station, about 5-8 mins walk. You can walk yourself or be picked up by the staff. Their dinner are excellent and fresh. Roasted beef or raw horse meat could be chosen. The quality of hot spring is amazing good, which makes the skin better immediately. I cannot point anything bad about this accommodation!

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Staff are able speak in fluent English and Chinese There are private spa room provided in case you are not used to spa The meal served very well

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Everything

Cons: Nothing

Pros: The staff were really friendly and dinner in room served were really good.

Pros: This was the perfect place to experience a typical japanes Ryokan! The staff was doing everything and surpassed themselves. There are plenty of Ryokans in the little town to chose from. We were very happy with out choice, cause it's compared to some of the other options a rather small one. There are pretty big ones too, with busses and tourgroups staying there. Not this one. We had a very lovely room. We went for the mix out of a tatami area and regular beds. If you wanna sleep on the typical futons, they have those rooms too. Big onsen area! I would like to single out the dinner though! The dinner was just awesome! Regarding quality of the food, variety and presentation. You could literally stay there just for the dinner alone.

Cons: In general Ryokans in Japan are seriously expensive. This one is no exception.

Pros: great Ryokan experience, excellent room with private onsen where you could listen to the sound of the river close by, cute little town, the outdoor onsen was the best! dinner was nice, breakfest aswell...staff was helpfull and really friendly

Cons: actually i expected to get food in our private space (not really bad though, it could just be mentioned in the description)

Pros: I got a room in the Annex wing and it felt more private since there were only two rooms. My room was a 14-tatami room, if I’m not mistaken t- so it was very spacious and comfortable. I also love both of the private onsen.

Cons: The kaiseki dinner was average and nothing really ‘wowed’ me. I’ve stayed at other ryokans before and usually they would feature a special ingredient sourced locally (like in Kumamoto it would be horse meat sashimi) - but there wasn’t anything super special.

Pros: Friendly staff, superb meal, graceful decorating style, cozy room. Everything is wonderful. The only one thing we can complain a little is you can see the small bugs easily somewhere

Cons: A little far from the main street (30mins walk) but there's a shuttle bus works every day.

Pros: The onsen are very pretty and relaxing, especially after dark. It would have been nice to share an onsen with my wife if we had hired out the private unit, but apparently that was against the rules (even if you'd paid for sole use of the onsen)

Cons: Yamamizuki is very poor at meeting customer needs, if the customer wants anything that even slightly alters their way of doing things. So I was told "No" in response to every request I made, all of which were quite reasonable: Could we have a simple Western breakfast? - "No". I requested this on my booking form but they didn't answer before we arrived. They eventually on Day 3 started serving a piece of fruit and one piece of bread per person (this was a $1000 per night booking....), which was inferior to what was available at the local convenience store. We might be back late, can we dine at 8.30? - "No" The teenage children are slow to get up, can we have breakfast at 9? - "No" Today we will definitely not be back before you stop serving dinner, so can we miss it? (Request made at 8.30 am) - "No" (or rather, we will charge you for dinner for 5 anyway) Can we have standard breakfast tea not green tea? "No" (not a hard request....) By the end my whole family felt uncomfortable about asking for anything and in constant danger of breaking unwritten 'rules'. The desire by staff to do anything to meet guests' wishes is completely lacking: - I have a bad foot and walk with a limp. The nearest town is 2km+ away. I walked down there 3 times during my stay. Not once did any of the reception staff offer to use the Yamamizuki car to give me a lift. Other Asian hotels would be ashamed to let a guest walk off as Yamamizuki did. It may also be of interest to know that a Yamamizuki stay is designed to isolate you from other people. All meals are served in private rooms and there are no public areas whatsoever - reception rooms, gardens etc. For some people, this may be a positive but for anyone wanting to ask other guests about onsen or the surrounding area, you will learn nothing at Yamamizuki.

Pros: Truly amazing experience. Incredible hot springs and unforgettable meals.

Pros: The ryokan was more than I had envisioned. The staff were beyond attentive, friendly, and extremely helpful. The facilities were amazing, including the onsen. We were stuffed every meal here as the food selection was so fresh and delicious!!! We will come back. Thank you again!

Cons: Absolutely nothing!

Pros: The rotenburo was amazing, positioned along side the river. I do not think it gets better than this.

Pros: From the attentive care of its staff shown in emails inquiring about our arrival and their making bus reservations for us to the views of flowing creeks and cascade waterfalls by the indoor and outdoor baths, Yamamizuki has exceeded our expectation and we are very happy to have stayed there.

Pros: Outdoor Onsen next to gushing river excellent

Cons: Nothing

Pros: one of the best onsen ryokan we have stayed. wonderful outdoor onsen in the woods with waterfall right next to. keiseki dinner and breakfast were maticulate. staffs were so friendly and helpful from minute we arrived till very second we left!

Pros: Everything. The experience was all that a forgiener could hope for. The breakfast was especially incredible.

Pros: Onsen in the room was perfect! Loved the breakfast in a private room. I'm used to having it in the room itself at other ryoukan, but this was great too. The staff were really accommodating with the pick up time from Kurokawa onsen visitor centre, really thankful for that as it would have been a hell of a walk by foot!

Cons: The yikata in the room smelled strange.. like it hasn't been aired in a while.

Pros: We did not take the full board option. We enjoyed our breakfast and having a private bathroom onsen. The common facilities were attractive and cosy. The outside onsen was inviting and surrounded by vegetation .

Cons: It is quite difficult getting around the area, even when driving. The roads are very narrow in some places... and two way! When we reached the address on our GPS there were two ryokan opposite each other. Of course we chose the wrong one to walk into. The owner was delightful and walked us across to the other ryokan. Perhaps a small English translation on the Japanese signs would make it a little easier for most tourists, especially with the Olympics coming.

Pros: The cave onsen was awesome, and it’s a pity that it is not being advertised. Room was big and spacious and lovely. The whole environment is chill and resort like but bearing in mind it’s not along the main ryokan street.

Cons: The whole stay felt a rush. It’s a lovely ryokan but there was too much chasing us around to fit into their timetables.

Pros: Very quiet place and peaceful

Cons: Extraordinary place! We had a wonderful time , highly recommended

Pros: Lovely setting, especially in the fall. There is private hot spring in the room and the public hot spring is outdoors with lovely scenery. There is also a very special function room that is decorated like a cozy log cabin with fireplaces and bookshelves. Free coffee and tea is available,

Cons: Dinner is not provided but the staff is kind enough to drop us off at a convenience store and then help us microwave.

Pros: Taitaimi very comfy, food also good, also the staff are very helpful and nice.

Pros: Beautiful traditional hotel with private onsen (hot spring) baths. Both an inside and an outdoor bath. It’s like having your own Japanese house. Wonderful! Also a delicious Kaiseki dinner and breakfast.

Cons: Late check-in and early check-out.

Pros: What can I say, beautiful ryokan, amazing room with private outdoor onsen. 5 minute drive to central Kurokawa onsen town. Amazing atmosphere. Very good breakfast. They made us feel very welcome.

Cons: -

Pros: The night view and the hotspring is fantastic!

Pros: Absolutely amazing, gorgeous food, nice onsen, great fireplace with sake.

Cons: Our room was had a few scratches here and there, otherwise everything was great.

Pros: The traditional Japanese setting, cozy environment, food was good and a fire place for relaxation after meal.

Cons: Very strict dinner time.

Pros: Everything is perfect! Onsen, meals, observatory, even sake with fireplace...

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Friendly staff, many hot spring facilities. Star watching session and free sake provided. Very good cost efficiency, highly recommended.

Pros: Everything

Cons: Maybe put a massage chair in the room :) and maybe set up some kind of loyalty programs to attract returning customers :)

Pros: Excellent service, very nice staffs

Pros: Large room with own indoor and outdoor bath.

Cons: Very in-Japanese feel to the whole place; entrance decor like a cheap Chinese resort with unnatural stones everywhere and faux wood. Served entirely by non-Japanese staff throughout the stay. Paid for Jap experience and didn’t get it.

Pros: This hotel was the most luxurious we have ever had. The beds were so comfy, the view beautiful, and our private onsen was gorgeous. The food was amazing as well, and we had the best steak of our lives there (bunko from oita). Staff was very kind and went out of their way to help with everything. We were surprised at all the little touches that made it such an amazing experience.

Pros: All staffs very professional,the property one of the best,foods was excellent.

Cons: None

Pros: The details of the Japanese style rooms is impeccable. The food was an experience all it's own. The private baths and mountain views are breathtaking. The staff is friendly and extremely attentive.

Cons: There was nothing I didn't enjoy about my stay here. I would come back in a heartbeat.

Pros: Very private and cosy. The requested vegetarian cuisine has been prepared with heart from the Chef, Mr Mashiki. Vegetarian soup broth is used instead of traditional Japanese fish soup stock. Very impressive and delicious dishes. Will visit the property again.

Cons: Nespresso machine is not available

Pros: Absolutely perfect in every way. Wonderful staff. Amazing selection of onsen. Beautiful, comfy rooms.

Pros: The thermal pools were great and the option to have it for yourself was awesome!! The food was great too.

Cons: I thin is a very good place, but bring cash as many of the small shops do not take credit cards and ATMs are not nearby.

Pros: This place is FA-BU-LOUS. An authentic traditional ryokan in a fantastic location in the heart of Kurokawa, with an on-site onsen featuring several baths. I only spent one night, but the central location made it easy to spend half a day exploring the environs.

Cons: Minor issue, but only one staff member spoke English, and he wasn't always available; communication was difficult sometimes, esp. during check-in.

Pros: My 2 best nights of my solo trip in Japan. A welcome mountain lodging with gleaming wooden floors and delightful outdoor onsens in a bamboo grove (for women) and by the river (for women). There are also indoor pools including ones that can be locked and used privately, these also feature excellent salt scrubs among other facilities. I loved the beautiful yukata you are provided and nice touches such as jugs office water (refills by toiletries supplies).The included breakfast is very filling and I had dinner twice as well - wagyu beef teppanyaki one night and shabu shabu the next, with many other delicious courses. I did visit another highly recommended onsen in Kurokawa during the day but if staying just 2 nights you will not miss out and perhaps benefit more from just relaxing at Fumoto all day. Good central location near some shops, free shuttle to bus stop. Lovely staff, some with good English. Highly recommend as a cosy, restoring, unpretentious place to stay.

Cons: Futon definitely hard if you are not used to it, but that's the ryokan experience! Two sets of towels per person per day would be much better for bathing multiple times.

Pros: I don’t have enough words to describe the experience in this hotel! It was the best place I’ve ever stayed in during my trips to Japan. The staff was amazing and helpful, the room was great, outdoors onsen just beautiful and the food ( both breakfast and dinner) was delicious! I definitely hope to stay in this place again!

Pros: Amazing Onsen owned by the property, up on the top hillside (just across the road from the ryokan) & across the wooden bridge over the river (part of the ryokan). All stunning, very well kept & beautiful surroundings.

Cons: Try a double futon if that’s possible ?!

Pros: Lovely traditional ryokan with beautiful onsen next to the river. Delicious Japanese breakfast. Free shuttle service from the bus station to the ryokan.

Pros: Breakfast - We are foreigners and all were new to us. It was interesting and all the items served was delicious. The staff were all very positive, helpful, friendly at all times. I was down with a bad cough and upon my request, they gave me some local medication that helped tremendously. Dinner - the first night was a wow experience but the second night with fish as the main theme not so much. All the same, it was sumptuous and good. The onsen experience was new to my wife and I. We tried all the family baths as well as the communal ones. I dare say we liked it so much that we shall be trying out more.

Cons: Nothing really. Occupancy was full on both nights that we stayed but this did not hinder our movements or space at the onsens made available.

Pros: Staff are nice and very helpful. They got three type of hot spring bath: public bath for hotel guests, bath for hotel guests and walk-ins and private bath available for reservations. Public bath for hotel guests is clean and big with nice garden view.

Pros: Dinner Breakfast Spa

Cons: Location

Pros: The resort was great, staff very helpful.

Cons: Main portions were small and we were still hungry at the end.

Pros: Beautiful surrounding Amazing room Friendly and helpful staff

Cons: NA

Pros: Super friendly and helpful staff, rooms look great. Onsen are really nice!

Cons: Nothing

Pros: The Ryokan was perfect with the room, Kaiseki dinner and breakfast. They provided free shuttle to and from bus stop and center of the town. I could actually walked from the town center back to Ryokan which took me about 15 minutes. The Onsen experiences were great with indoor and outdoor options. Staffs were so polite and very nice.

Cons: A little bit out of town.

Pros: Feel so overwhelmed when the staff is waiting and welcoming us in the parking bay once our car is arrived in the entrance. Like the quiet ryokan with no much noises. Enjoy my onsens with nice sceneries. The dinner and breakfast are good and filling. Love the yukata and sandal colours. The room is spacious enough and very comfortable. You can listen the water flowing outside the window and it’s double the joy for my trip .

Cons: It’s perfect if have more choices of different onsens. overall it’s wonderful stay

Pros: Beautiful surrounds. Stunning Onsen with views of the river. Lovely private Onsen available too. Rooms were comfy. Staff were excellent.

Pros: There are choice of various style of onsens including the private and mixed bathe.

Cons: The villa style.

Pros: We loved the location of the ryokan among the woods and near the river. Breakfast and dinner were great, a real traditional Japanese cuisine experience! We also loved the small private open-air onsen bath.

Pros: surrounding nature and river ,the natural onsen ,food,service and the tatami room with a view .

Pros: Good experience, a relaxing and cozy environment.

Pros: Staff incredibly attentive

Cons: Nothing